Donn Colee Jr. at the original studios of Lake Worth’s ‘All-Girl’ radio station WLIZ, now transmitter site for WWRF, ‘Radio Fiesta.’ Thom Smith/The Coastal Star
By Thom Smith
Long before Florida became a state, the Colee family was setting the stage. They farmed land along the St. Johns River south of Jacksonville and operated carriages on the streets of St. Augustine, a stagecoach line over to the St. Johns River and a ferry service across it. They were postmasters, bankers, engineers, railroaders and real estate speculators.
A notch in the St. Johns still carries the name Colee Cove. In Fort Lauderdale, Colee Hammock on the New River is now a city park.
Eventually the Colees found their way into broadcasting. In the mid-’40s, high school friends Donn Colee Sr. and Mike Gannon landed part-time jobs as announcers at WFOY in St. Augustine. They loved the work, but college lay ahead. Gannon became a history professor at the University of Florida; Colee returned to broadcasting, working at Central Florida radio stations, then opening WLOF-TV in Orlando. In 1963 he bought WHEW in West Palm Beach (now WPOM), and three years later opened an advertising and public relations business. In ’68 he sold the station; in ’89 he sold the agency and retired. He and wife Shirley live in Palm Beach Gardens.
Seven generations removed from St. Augustine, Donn Colee Jr. followed his dad into broadcasting, starting as a rock ’n’ roll DJ in Orlando, and after a Navy hitch ventured into advertising and public relations. Young Colee eventually landed at WPEC-Channel 12 in West Palm Beach — in marketing, community relations, programming and eventually as station manager from 2002 to 2007.
He’s out of the business now, but the ties still bind. Taking the advice of his dad and Gannon, he went to work on a history of Florida broadcasting. Towers in the Sand was released last month, and at more than 700 pages, it offers a fascinating anecdotal journey of the history of Florida broadcasting from the land boom of the Roaring ’20s to the present.
Colee recounts some of the notable personalities now in the national spotlight who first attracted attention in Florida: Katie Couric, Roy Firestone, Red Barber, Steve Kroft and Brian Norcross.
But villains can offset heroes and Florida has had its share. Radio took a near fatal hit in Miami Beach in 1959 when the second annual Radio Programming Seminar and Pop Music Disc Jockey Convention attracted 2,500 jocks gorging at a trough stocked by the record companies. Under such headlines as “Booze, Broads and Bribes,” newspapers reported wild sex parties on private yachts, fleets of Cadillac convertibles, side trips to Cuba and, worst of all, $600,000 ($5 million in current cash) was lavished on the DJs.
To assorted members of Congress and law enforcement officials who saw rock ’n’ roll as a scourge, the weekend of “payola” broke the camel’s back. Six months later, the House Oversight Committee began hearings.
Though not one was from Florida, 335 disc jockeys admitted taking payola. The biggest fish were Dick Clark and Alan Freed. Clark was clever. He classified his bounty as “consulting fees,” and was even lauded by some government officials. Freed pleaded guilty to two minor charges; but then the IRS went after him. Before he could pay the $38,000 in back taxes, he died a broken man.
Towers in the Sand is available in print ($29.95 plus $5 shipping) and digitally ($8.95) at www.towersinthesand.com.
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